The bathrooms were closed during the lockdowns.
Quite a few children did not learn to swim as a result.
The Unterföhringer swimming club is now hoping for help to be able to resume lessons.
Unterföhring
- In order to catch up on the backlog of swimming lessons, the Unterföhring swimming club is looking for swimming areas and support from local politicians.
One possibility would be to offer swimming lessons in the exercise pool at St. Valentinhof, says chairwoman Elisabeth Rupprecht.
Buying or renting a pop-up bathroom might also be a solution.
It would also be conceivable that the municipality would rent water areas from its neighbors in Ismaning or in the state capital of Munich.
"We very much hope that the parliamentary groups will see the problem and that we will receive the support we need," Rupprecht wrote in a letter to the 180 members.
Before the pandemic, it was 220. Because they could not practice their sport, some swimmers quit.
FDP local association supports the efforts
According to the senior concept, the five by four meter exercise pool in St. Valentinshof is only accessible to participants aged 60 and over. In the small pool in the basement of the senior citizen center, the four trained swimming instructors from the club could also teach children their first swimming skills. The administration, the mayor and the local council would only have to change the concept.
The local association of the FDP supports the efforts of the swimming club.
FDP local councilor Veit Wiswesser considers early childhood music education, the offers of the FamilienHaus eV and swimming lessons for children to be of equal value and important: "My personal concern as the councilor is that such topics are not simply kept silent, as is the case with the FamilienHaus because the topic is perhaps too uncomfortable or is being led by people with the wrong party book. ”While the Musikschul eV is being funded, he has so far missed the willingness of the FamilienHaus eV and the swimming club.
In 2017 100 children made their seahorses
A lot of Unterföhringen parents who are looking for a swimming course for their children contact Elisabeth Rupprecht.
The swimming club would like to really get started.
Because the swimming pools were closed for a long time, every second child under ten years of age cannot swim, emphasizes Rupprecht.
After all, around 100 children have made their seahorses since the local swimming club was founded in 2017.
It should go on like this, the association was founded after the decision to build an indoor swimming pool in Unterföhring had been made.
The local council has put the large-scale project “sports park with indoor swimming pool” on hold for the time being and only planned for 2025/26.
Now the swimmers fear that the building will be postponed further or overturned entirely.
They hope that at least a small swimming pool will be built.
"Don't know when we can offer courses again."
After all, the swimming club has been able to train in the Prinz-Eugen-Bad in Oberföhring since June.
“We all have to renew our lifeguard license,” reports Rupprecht, “in addition, the water rescue service uses two lanes for training.” She hopes that the Unterföhringer will also get swimming times in the Prinz-Eugen-Bad in the new school year.
"Then we want to offer training for advanced children."
There are no courses for beginners because the Ismaning indoor swimming pool is being rebuilt.
“We don't know when we will be able to offer courses there again.” The corona pandemic has not only caused “a huge traffic jam” in Unterföhring, all municipalities need swimming areas and training opportunities for their members.
You can find more news from Unterföhring and the district of Munich here.